Takes Two to Tango
by Cafe Au Liet
Summary: "Snipers are amazing at ballroom dancing." "Is that from experience? Just how many have you danced with?" "Only one." A short Royai One shot.


A few clips of Take the Lead, and I was taken. Well, inspired. Short oneshot. Hope you laugh. C:

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"The party is exactly twenty hours on Friday night. Don't be late."

"Yes sir!" came a chorus of male voices and a single female one.

"Dress up, and don your masks. Identify the subject and take the documents from him."

"Chief, why is he going to bring those documents to a party?" Havoc questioned.

"Because, Havoc, he needs to transfer it to his boss, who's flying in to attend the very party."

"But Colonel, it's a masquerade." Fuery stated the obvious.

"That's what'll make it so very easy for them and so very challenging for us."

"Do we have the boss's profile? Something we could identify him with?" Breda asked.

"No, we do not have her identity. From the wire tapping Fuery did, all we know is that she is female."

"Great, so we just look out for every couple in the party." the well-built blond sighed.

"We ID'd the man. We just have to look for the females who get close to him." Falman pointed out.

"But it's a _masquerade_." Breda repeated.

"That would pose a problem." Mustang looked at his subordinates.

"Then we've got to work even harder, men." Hawkeye commanded.

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"Sir," she said, her tone lethal. "Why are we holding hands?"

"Because, _Elizabeth_, you're my wife. Shouldn't we make it believable?"

"_Reginald, _I am your date." she deadpanned.

"I told you to change my name. How about Royce? Sounds better."

"_Royce_, let go of my hand."

"You really have to get over your disdain for public displays of affection, dear. After all, we _are_ married." he turned to the person at the entrance.

"Royce and Elizabeth Hawking."

"Please enjoy, Mr. and Mrs. Hawking. You're at table twenty five." he checked off the names on a long list.

"How'd you like the names Fuery gave them?" he grinned, eyes shining and covered by a Zorro-like mask with silver paint.

She ignored him and instead scanned the crowd. "The subject, he's at table seventeen." she flicked on her mic for the benefit of the other men.

"How did you find that out?"

"I looked at the list of guests while you got us registered, sir." she replied, looking at him through a glittery cream colored mask that matched her dress.

"Have I told you that you look very pretty tonight, Hawkeye?" he stared openly at her face.

"It's _Elizabeth_, _Royce_."

"Right." his gaze went over to the direction she was also looking at.

"There are five guys seated at table seventeen. My hunch is he's the heavy guy in the ornate blue mask."

"You're probably right. Who could have such bad taste? Ornate? More like ostentatious." he scoffed.

"Sir!" she half-scolded him.

"The man next to him, in the green monstrosity looks equally suspicious."

"So does the brunet in gray." she replied.

He brought his hand to his ear. "Jacqueline and Kate, keep an eye on the man in the green at table seventeen. Braidy and Vanessa, guy in blue mask at the same table. Elizabeth and I will take the man in gray."

"Got it." "Yep." the replies came, heard only by their ears.

#

The dinner party had gone into full swing, everybody having eaten and drank their fill.

"He's heading to the dance floor with the slinky redhead, sir."

"I always liked blonds better." he hinted.

"I guess that's why you _married_ one, sir." she replied with a small smile.

"Would my wife like to dance?"

"I don't think we've got a choice." she nodded at the couple they were supposed to watch and stood from her chair.

#

He twirled her and she spun expertly on her heels. "Where'd you learn how to dance, _Elizabeth_?" he asked her.

"In the Academy, actually." she replied, distractedly. Not that she was distracted by Roy's intimate hold on her waist. It was the mission she was distracted about, she tried to convince herself.

"Smooth moves, _Elizabeth_." Havoc's deep voice sounded at her ear.

"Hey, she's mine, _Jacky. _Keep your eyes on the subject." Roy swiped at his ear for the small button.

"Chief, you should speak for yourself." he chuckled back.

"Thank you, _Jacqueline_. It's because you taught me well."

"_He_ taught you to dance like that?" Roy looked at her, disbelieving.

"He's right, sir. It'll be too obvious if I'm the only one checking the man out." she dismissed his question.

"You're checking out another guy while dancing with me?" he asked with fake astonishment now.

She rolled her eyes as the song turned into a tango and he quickened his pace.

She caught up with ease, heels sliding on the smooth wood.

"I love the tango. There's something so... sexy about it." Roy spoke in her ear as he pulled her closer.

She felt her heart beat faster than it already was. "Please keep your eyes on the subject, sir. And your hands to yourself." her voice was still as calm as ever.

He chuckled. "I don't think I'm capable of the second stipulation. After all, a person has to hold his partner in a dance."

"Not to pull up his partner's skirt." she felt the cloth rise to the middle of her thigh as she wrapped the leg he lifted up around his.

"Besides, look at the girl. There's no way she's hiding anything in that dress. Much less papers."

"Apparently." Riza grimaced at the glittery revealing... _thing_ the girl had on.

"I like _your_ dress. Classy." he eyed the knee-length cream colored chiffon dress in a halter style.

"You do?" she glanced up at him, then at the other man in the corner of her eyes.

"And your footwork. Is this what you in your free time?"

"Our line of work does require us to have a quickness of step." she smiled slyly.

"Snipers are amazing at ballroom dancing."

"Is that from experience? Just how many have you danced with?"

"Only one."

CRACK. BZZT.

"Sir, our guy's the one. He slipped a girl an envelope, but we saw it before she hid it." Fuery's voice came through the frequency.

"Retrieve it."

"Havoc's already on it, sir."

The song slowed and Riza tilted her chin up, watching a blond man in a white mask waltz by, a woman in a poofy yellow dress in his arms.

"She's hidden it up her dress." she concluded.

"Oh god. Now the fate of my promotion depends on _Havoc_'s getting his hands up a girl's skirt." Roy sighed.

The man in the white mask made a face, just quick enough for his partner not to see.

They watched in tension, barely paying attention to their own feet. They moved with ease, as if they had been practicing together for weeks.

Suddenly, Havoc led his partner into the crowd and Roy and Riza lost sight of him. He looked at her, and she returned the gaze. There they were, chest to chest, and face to face. Oh so close.

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, neither saying a word, before they swept across the dance floor to find Havoc twirling the woman with his right hand while discreetly sliding an envelope into his jacket with his left.

"He did it." Roy grinned in relief.

She smiled a small smile back and touched her earring. "Great job, _Jacqueline_."

Jean smiled at his partner, who thankfully seemed to be oblivious of what had just happened.

"Now we can breathe easy." the song ended and he led her off the dance floor and towards their seats.

"Who says the _wife_ wants to stop dancing?" she smiled.

"The _husband_ is tired." he groaned.

"They're starting to play the tango again, _Royce_."

"On second thought, I'm suddenly a bundle of energy waiting to be unleashed."

"I thought so." she said as she positioned her hands on his body.

"Remind me to always assign you as my wife on occasions like these, _Elizabeth_." he did the same.

"Will do, dear." she replied as Roy dipped her down low.

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End file.
